


The Bracelet

by IamIronfan



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony Stark, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Presumed Dead, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:13:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23019877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamIronfan/pseuds/IamIronfan
Summary: That was the day the bracelet first appeared. Morgan told them Peter was alive and that he had given it to her. Therapists told them that it was normal. She had watched her father almost die and now someone she loved really had. She was just coping in her own way, not unlike an imaginary friend. Pepper seemed to accept this, but he himself couldn’t handle it.It broke him. It was the final straw after everything. Every day he wanted to smash that little bracelet for reminding him of the bright eyed kid that was dead because of him. To him that bracelet only existed to spite him.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 384





	The Bracelet

**Author's Note:**

> Warning because this is just a big whump story so mentions of kidnapping and mild violence.

Tony paced across the stone floor of the damp cellar in which he was currently trapped inside of. The bitter sense of failure was starting to overwhelm him now. Three times already he’d checked the one door in and out of the small room to find it secured tightly. Some time ago he’d accepted that they were stuck, but that didn’t seem to ease his urge to _do something._ Failure was something he was overly familiar with these days, but today was supposed to have been different. 

It was a week ago now that Pepper had approached him with the proposition of just the three of them going on a short little vacation. At first he’d been hesitant because despite the lavish lifestyle he’d always been surrounded by, vacations had never really been his thing. Relaxing wasn’t something he was good at. His unrelenting need to keep himself busy prevented him from slowing down enough to properly justify a get away. This was especially true as of the past three months after the incident. 

He knew the incident was what had made Pepper suggest the idea in the first place though. Their family had been struggling for awhile now and the sadness that dwelled in her eyes everytime she looked at him was too much to resist. 

So he’d agreed because he wanted Morgan to have happy memories of her childhood and despite everything that had happened he wanted to be the one to give them to her. Stupidly he’d left everything behind for this weekend vacation with them. No suit, no phone, not even his fucking watch with the tracker in it for emergencies. 

“Tony.” Pepper chastised as he punched the stone wall in frustration. 

Looking over to her he saw she was still sitting in the corner with Morgan tucked into her side tightly. She jerked her head at Morgan and widened her eyes in warning. 

Right. Stay calm for the kid. 

He watched his daughter for a moment to see that luckily she was hardly concerned by his outburst though. In fact she looked relatively composed all things considered. 

When they had all first been accosted a few hours ago their kidnappers hadn’t bothered to be gentle in consideration of the fact that there was a mother and child involved in whatever scheme they were planning. No, they’d been quite forceful when they’d thrown bags over all three of their heads and thrown them into a vehicle that promptly peeled off. 

While watching his daughter sadly his eyes lowered to what she was fiddling with between her small fingers. Right now it was the very last thing he should be putting his energy into focusing on, but even so he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the dainty little bracelet that hung around his daughter’s slender wrist. God he hated the damn thing. 

He knew how awful that was. Especially right now as it seemed to be a source of comfort to the little girl but he just… hated it. Morgan though… Morgan _loved_ it. 

Maybe he was going crazy, but he swore it was the universe playing a trick on him. The little bracelet seemed to stick around just to spite him. If it were any other item of Morgan’s he knew it would have been long since lost. At the very least lying forgotten on a shelf or in the grass of the backyard. That’s just what kids did after all. They went through phase after phase and with each one toys and trinkets of it’s time lay forgotten to make room for a new obsession. He himself had seen Morgan do it time and time again, but not with that little bracelet. 

To anyone else it would probably look exceptionally ordinary. It looked like any other piece of costume jewelry a child would wear. It had brightly colored beads with a dangling large and ornate one in the middle with a little _M_ on it. 

“Daddy… I want to go home.” Morgan said softly and his heart seemed to constrict in pain at the vulnerability of her little voice. She was too precious to be involved in whatever this was. 

“I know baby but I’ll tell you what, Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy are gonna be working extra hard to come help us.” Tony assured her and she nodded albeit somewhat glumly. 

His dismay grew as he watched her begin to fiddle with her bracelet again. She stared down at it in a loving sort of way.

“Petey could help us.” She murmured softly and Tony turned away from her, scrubbing a hand down his face in stress. He couldn’t deal with this again, and especially not right now. 

“Tony.” Pepper murmured softly from behind him. The plea in her voice was pronounced. It was astonishing how much emotion she could put into his name alone. 

Before the tension in the room could build anymore, and it was damn near palpable at that moment, everything was shattered. The door to the room finally opened and though he’d tried with all his might to manifest Rhodey walking through it that just wasn’t the case. 

Several masked men stormed the room and all of them were holding large guns that were pointed at him. Quickly he backed up to Pepper and Morgan while spreading his arms out protectively. Shielding them from the horror that they should never have been involved in. 

“Start recording.” The man in the front demanded and one of the men flanking him obliged quickly by holstering his gun and holding up a blinking camera phone instead. 

Tony took a couple steps forward to meet the man because he knew what part was coming next and in no way was Morgan or Pepper going to be subjected to the role. 

“We’ve made some demands to your people, Stark. Things aren’t moving as quickly as we’d like so we’ve decided to speed things along with a little message.” The man said and his voice was alive with malice. There was something more though… It was amusement. The sick bastard was actually enjoying this. 

He braced himself for the blow he knew was about to come. He wasn’t disappointed either as the man swung the gun and hit him roughly in the face with it. Spitting blood on the floor he tried to ignore Morgan’s cries of horror and turned to face the guy again. 

This whole process wasn’t unexpected, frankly he’d been waiting for their kidnappers to flex their muscles a bit. In some twisted sort of way he’d even welcomed it because he knew it would speed up getting a message out to his team. What came next however he hadn’t foreseen. 

A small beating was expected but usually people who wanted something never did much more than surface damage. So when the leader held up a gun and pointed it at him he couldn’t help the way his mouth fell open ever so slightly in shock. 

A loud bang rang out through the too small room and his ears began ringing from the ear splitting noise. His shoulder was on fire with pain. Looking down he saw blood blossoming around the source of the pain, soaking his light blue shirt red. 

The man with the phone ended the video and the team of thugs promptly retreated without another word now that they had what they needed. Despite the pain, he sighed in relief knowing that it was over. The pain was nothing compared to the possibility that they would move on to taunting either Pepper or worse Morgan. The unexpected gunshot told him not to underestimate these guys. 

Pepper was at his side now, ripping her jacket off and wrapping it tightly around his shoulder the best she could. The wound wasn’t life threatening as long as they stemmed the blood flow. It was a warning shot. 

“How bad?” Pepper murmured as Morgan’s face anxiously peered down at him as well. Tony ground his teeth together trying to fight the pain and remain calm. 

“Well not great to be perfectly honest.” He bit out. The adrenaline was fading now that they were alone again and the pain was only intensifying. 

“Daddy I’m scared.” Morgan said and to his horror he saw that was finally reduced to tears. Carefully he managed to pick himself up into a sitting position with Pepper’s assistance.

“It’s okay. Rhodey will definitely know where we are now, okay?” He promised her but she shook her head adamnetly. 

“No! We need Peter, he’ll be faster!” She insisted.

“God damn it Morgan, Peter is not coming! He’s gone.” He cried out and his voice broke. 

Immediate shame hit him at his outburst but the pain was so severe and damn it he just couldn’t talk about Peter Parker right now. 

“You’re wrong.” She said softly and to his surprise he watched her take off the bracelet, her most coveted possession, and slam it onto the concrete floor. Her tiny little converse shoe slammed down on it after that, and beads went flying around mixed with kicked up dust. When her shoe rose as she stepped back the tiny little M charm lay shattered as the rest of the pieces settled in varying locations in which they had flown. 

He titled his head to the side, eyes wide. He swallowed at the unexpected lump in his throat while blinking back the unprecedented tears forming in his eyes. Despair filled him as he looked at the remains of the bracelet. He had unabashedly hated it, but now that it was destroyed he was… sad. 

It hadn’t left Morgans wrist in three months. Not since Peter Parker went missing on his mission in Europe. 

It all started with that bastard Quentin Beck and how Fury had allowed Peter to get tangled up in the mess. His retirement was made clear to everyone. It was crucial to his marriage and life as a father that once he was done with the big mission of bringing everyone back he would truly be done with it all. So nobody called him… not even Peter. 

He had been completely in the dark about the whole thing until EDITH was already given to Beck. After everything that had happened with Thanos, no matter how much he loved the kid, that mistake was inexcusable. So breaking all the promises he’d made to Pepper he hopped into a suit and immediately flew to Europe to tear the kid a new one. 

The fight they had that night made him cringe when he thought back to it now. He thought the threat was over and the things he had said to Peter kept him up at night still. Beck hadn’t really been taken down. It was just another illusion and that night he made an attack on Peter. Beck said he killed Peter and revealed his identity to the world in his little speech.

Tony didn’t believe it at first. He just couldn’t fathom Peter being gone. After weeks with no trace though the truth was too obvious to ignore. Fury said the reason they couldn’t find a body was because Beck would have thoroughly disposed of it. He’d punched the man in the face at the words.

Before the whole Europe mess though things had been good. When he’d snapped his fingers his body had sustained some severe trauma, but with the help of Wakanda’s tech and resources he’d pulled through. In that healing period Peter was around the cabin a lot and Morgan had taken to him quickly. Within a couple days she adored Peter Parker.

Morgan being his child was brilliant for her age which brought about consequences. Like how she knew the truth about what had happened to Peter when everything happened. There was no feel good fairy tale lies to be fed to Morgan about what had happened to her brother. She knew better and she was devastated. 

Until one day she just… wasn’t. It was baffling the change in her that took place seemingly overnight. He could only equate it to Morgan waking up from a nightmare that they all were still trapped inside of. 

That was the day the bracelet first appeared. She told them Peter was alive and that he had given it to her. 

Therapists told them that it was normal. She had watched her father almost die and now someone she loved really had. She was just coping in her own way, not unlike an imaginary friend. Pepper seemed to accept this, but he himself couldn’t handle it.

It broke him. It was the final straw after everything. Every day he wanted to smash that little bracelet for reminding him of the bright eyed kid that was dead because of him. To him that bracelet only existed to spite him. 

So now as he stared down at it’s broken remains he couldn’t help but be surprised with himself. All that hate and now that it was gone he was left realizing how hate was really just a fucked up extension of love. 

The bracelet was the last bit of Peter Parker and now it was gone. 

He looked up at Morgan scared to see her expression but she didn’t look surprised by her outburst in the slightest. Rather she looked quite content. Amused even like she was enjoying some kind of private joke. Another wave of emotion hit him.

Oh god she really thought Peter was going to come and save them. 

-  
  


Hours passed as they sat imprisoned in the cellar. Morgan was picking at the laces of her shoes, Pepper’s head buried in her hands, and he himself trying to stay conscious. The gunshot wound wasn’t serious but it might be headed that way. Blood had soaked through Pepper’s jacket now and onto his fingers securing it there. He was cold, dizzy, and all too aware of how he might lose consciousness soon. 

The door banged open again and he forced himself to his feet however. The room spun but he spread his arms in front of his family again protectively. 

“We’ve received the money.” The leader announced smugly but his voice still held that sick amusement in it. 

“Something tells me that you’re not here to release us though.” Tony murmured and the man let out a booming laugh.

“No of course not. Now that we know how easy it is to get money out of your people we’ve begun feeling… greedy. God knows you have plenty to spare Stark.” 

“He needs a doctor. If something happens to him you’re done and you surely know that.” Pepper spat out angrily and the man laughed again. 

“Ah seems as if we have a new subject for our little video.” The leader announced and Tony saw the blinking camera phone rise again. 

“No!” He cried out while rushing at the man but one of his thugs grabbed him and pinned his arms firmly behind his back. He yelped in pain as his wound was jostled around painfully but he struggled nonetheless. 

Pepper was grabbed by the leader roughly by the arm.

“NO!” He yelled as Morgan ran forward and started hitting the man pathetically. 

The man raised a fist towards the little girl and helplessness such as he’d never known washed over him. 

The man’s fist seemed to suspend in air though. He was visibly struggling but his arm remained stationary in place. Until he was yanked forward and hit the floor with a loud thump. 

The hands that had been securing him quickly released their hold and he fell forward. Morgan and Pepper were by his side crouching beside him protectively. 

He looked up to see a small figure dismantling the rest of the thugs quickly and efficiently. So much so that within a minute they all lay upon the floor in pathetic heaps.

“I told you!” Morgan screamed out victoriously as she ripped herself from Pepper’s grip and hurried to their savior. 

“Wait Mor-” Pepper started to say but the yell died on her lips as the person turned around to meet Morgan and they saw his face for the first time. 

Tony stood to his feet quickly, thoughtlessly. He swayed on the spot but denied Pepper’s help as he stumbled forward towards Morgan and the kid she was hugging tightly around the waist. 

“Go help your mom, Mo. Your dad's hurt and I need to help him.” Peter mumbled and Morgan reluctantly let go. What Tony would have given to have heard that voice for months now. 

Peter hurried to meet him and once close enough he threw his arms around the kid in a desperate sort of way. He didn’t care about his wound that was throbbing in painful protest at the motion. He didn’t care about anything right now besides making sure the kid was real.

“Hey, Mr. Stark.” Peter said in a sad sort of way. Tony pulled back and stared at the kids face in disbelief. 

“How?” He choked out but Peter’s face was morphing into an expression of deep concern. 

“You’re white as a ghost. We need to get you to the med bay.” Peter insisted suddenly urgent as he grabbed his arm and threw it over his shoulder to support his full weight now. 

More people were filtering into the cellar and he thought he might hear Rhodey talking now. He couldn’t look away from Peter Parker's face though. 

“How?” He asked again but Peter was helping him onto what he thought might be a stretcher. He struggled to sit up as hands tried to force him to lay down. 

“Calm down Tones.” 

Yep Rhodey was definitely there.

“No he’s going to leave again.” Tony mumbled while struggling as hard as he could in his injured state. Black spots were dancing in his vision now but he wasn’t going to give in.

“I won’t. I’ll stay and I’ll tell you everything if you just let them help you.” Peter’s voice said hurriedly and Tony turned in the direction in which it came. 

“Promise me?” He whispered which surprised him because in his head it was supposed to come out as a demand. He wasn’t even sure Peter heard him and fear gripped his chest that Peter might not oblige by this request.

“Promise.” Peter’s voice said softly just before he finally gave in and faded into the sleep that had been calling him for so long. 

-

Peter sat cross legged in an uncomfortable hospital chair in the corner of Tony’s recovery room. It was late in the evening and only he remained behind to stay with Tony who was sleeping soundly across from him in a hospital bed he knew his mentor would hate. The surgery to remove the bullet had gone well and Tony was going to be okay though, so he could complain about the bed all he wanted to when he finally woke up.

Pepper and Morgan had finally gone home to shower and change just an hour ago. Rhodey had finally persuaded them into doing so which he was glad for. Both Morgan and Pepper had looked dead on their feet. Specks of blood stained their clothes as a reminder of what had happened in the cellar. It was comforting to think of Morgan safe and at back home in her favorite pair of pajama’s instead of grubby clothes with her dads blood staining them. 

He promised Pepper that he was going to stay with Tony and keep him safe. Sadly he wasn’t sure if Pepper really believed him or not. She had a poker face better than anyone else he knew. So even though she had tried to disguise her discomfort he still got the feeling she wasn’t too happy with him. 

Really though, he didn’t blame her. What he had done must seem so selfish to her. Glancing up at Tony’s slack face he grimaced at the dark bags under his eyes from weeks without proper sleep. It was more than that though… Tony had been beside himself in the cellar. He’d never seen the man lose it that way before. The damage his absence had done was obvious. 

Tony stirred then and he tensed waiting to see if he would fully come to or not. The twitches turned into jerks until finally Tony’s eyes blearily blinked open before widening in panic as he looked around frantically. Quickly Peter stood up and hurried to his bedside. 

“You’re safe Mr. Stark. Pepper and Morgan too. They’re back at home cleaning up and Rhodey is watching over them.” Peter assured Tony while taking his hand in his own and squeezing it gently in an attempt to ground him. Tony nodded slowly and fell back on the pillow. 

“So we’re back to Mr. Stark, huh? I knew you were mad at me but I didn’t think I’d pushed us all the way back to such formalities.” Tony said and Peter frowned in response, reluctantly letting go of Tony's hand. 

After the snap he’d spent so much time with Tony and his family. Pizza nights, lab sessions, and tea parties with Morgan. When he looked at the man laying in the bed he saw what he considered to be a father figure. Tony was right, they were way past the days of “Mr. Stark." At least they should be. 

“Old habits die hard?” He tried lamely and Tony only snorted in response

“And I’m not mad at you.” Peter added.

Tony let a small little laugh escaped his lips in response. Peter bowed his head because the laugh held no humor within it. 

“That’s funny because I would sure think someone would have to be pretty peeved to pull something so damn cruel.” Tony snapped and Peter just started at his worn sneakers that looked out of place against the bright white and pristine floor of the hospital room. 

“It was cruel. I know that now. I didn’t do it to hurt you though.” Peter murmured and Tony sat up against his pillows now looking as angry as he did the day after the ferry incident. It made him feel small and stupid, like he’d never even grown from that moment so long ago.

“Oh well enlighten me then because I really don’t see any other reason why you would let me believe you were dead for three months Pete. I’m sorry but I guess that one is just pretty lost on me after everything we went through!” Tony yelled his voice extra loud in the silence of the quiet medical wing. 

“I was scared!” Peter yelled back in frustration. His life had been hell for the past three months and the trauma from everything that had happened with Thanos before that didn’t help either. Now he was underground and on the run. He hardly slept, he hardly ate, and god he had missed his friend and family so much.

“That's why you should have come to _me_!” Tony countered but Peter shook his head. 

“That wasn’t an option anymore. You made that clear to me.”

Tony looked so affronted he might as well have hit him in the face. The pain on his mentors face was so jarring that he regretted what he had said immediately.

“Don’t.” Tony whispered softly his voice breaking ever so slightly. 

“I just mean when we fought the things you said-”

“The things I said have haunted me everyday since I said them and you disappeared.” Tony said coldly, cutting across him.

“It’s not about what you said Tony, it’s about how they were true!” Peter cried out, surprised that he himself was yelling too now.

“They weren’t true.” Tony said vehemently. 

“No they were true! You were right just like you always are! You should be home with Pepper and Mo. I shouldn’t be messing up so badly still after everything. I got in over my head and I didn’t want to take you down with me over it when you had a family at home.” 

Tony ran a hand down in his face in stress. Peter wasn’t done though. It was pouring out of him now. All the pain, the anger, the damn regret too. It was heavy and he couldn’t carry it anymore. 

“When Beck said I had died, he really probably meant it. I fell for another one of his tricks and got hit by a train-”

“You what!?” 

“Just let me finish. I got hit by a train and it turns out I’m more resilient than originally thought. Big whoop. I’m ready to tell you the story, you just need to listen to me. I just need you to understand.” Peter pleaded and Tony hesitated before jerking his head in motion for him to continue. 

“So anyways when I recovered from that hit you’d already taken care of Beck. I was going to come straight to you, really I was, but Fury found me. That’s how I found out about my identity leak.” 

“Nick knew?” Tony demanded and Peter nodded watching as Tony’s fist balled up and his knuckles turned white from the pressure. He trudged on though.

“You know what hiding my identity meant to me. So when I found out that everyone knew who I was I panicked. That wasn’t even the end though because Fury told me Beck had a team, and it turned out to be an extensive one. I’ve spent the last three months tracking them down because they had tech that they were using still to warp the story in their favor. Tracking them down meant the start of fixing what happened.” 

“I don’t understand why you didn’t come to me though. We could have fixed it faster. I could have helped you.” Tony insisted through gritted teeth and Peter bowed his head in acknowledgement knowing that was probably true. 

“I almost did come to you a few times. Some of Beck’s team were becoming aware that I was still alive though. They started threatening people I loved because they knew who they were now. The mission got more complicated and I didn’t want you to get hurt if you got involved.” Peter explained and Tony just shook his head sadly. 

“Not to be dramatic kid, but nothing they could have done would have hurt me more than thinking you had died.” Tony said sadly but Peter shook his head. 

“It would have hurt me though Tony. Don’t you get it? I was just trying to keep you safe. Trying to keep you out of it. I saw you die when you snapped your fingers. I know you lived but for a moment it didn’t look like you would. I can’t do that again and certainly not because of me.” Peter explained, looking down and fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve nervously. 

“Who else knew about you being alive?” Tony asked and Peter was bummed out by the question he was hoping they could avoid. He knew it would only make it out like he had been trying to specifically hurt Tony.

“May knew. So did my two friends from school. They knew so they could be put under protection and obey it.” Peter whispered and Tony closed his eyes while leaning back on his pillows. Peter’s bottom lip trembled as a terrible realization passed over him. 

Tony might not forgive him for this one and honestly if that’s the choice he made how could Peter blame him for it? He never meant for any of this to happen, he hadn’t even wanted to get involved with Fury in the first place. 

“It was only because I knew you would come after me! The others wouldn’t, but you would.” He tried to explain desperately but Tony just laid there with his eyes closed. 

“Do you want me to leave?” Peter asked softly and Tony’s eyes opened to shoot him a look of incredulity.

“No. God no. I’m just… thinking.” Tony said shortly and Peter nodded strolling over to the window. Pushing the curtains aside he saw that it was late into the night and sunrise was still hours away. After a painfully long silence Tony finally spoke.

“You did come back though. You gave Morgan the Bracelet. The bead in the middle had a tracker?” 

“I made it and came back against Nick's orders to give it to her. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her because of my screw up. She had to break the bracelet to activate the alert. I couldn’t have her using it all the time when she got bored or lonely. That and I didn’t want her to live with the trauma of my death.” Peter answered quickly, glad to be rid of the awful silence.

“Yeah wouldn’t want anyone to have to live with that.” Tony muttered in a petulant sort of way. 

“She’s five though.” Peter tried but Tony just snorted.

“Yeah and you’re my kid.” Tony countered and even in the tense moment the notion made Peter smile slightly.

“God we thought Morgan was crazy.” Tony added though and the smile was immediately wiped off his face as quickly as it had come. 

Morgan was the most gifted child he’d ever met. Perhaps he got too caught up in that fact to remember that she was still just a five year old girl. The secret he’d given to her was a big thing. Morgan would have wanted to comfort her dad when he was sad. He should have known she would talk about it. 

“I’m sorry for that too. That was a lot of weight I put on her shoulders and it wasn’t fair.” Peter apologized and he was sad that he was losing count of the amount of things he was having to give them out for.

“Nah it saved our asses back in that shit hole. I don’t know what would have happened had you not come.” Tony said with a wave of his hand and Peter bit his lip.

Tony was clearly on the cusp of anger and understanding. The consideration of forgiveness was already more than he could have asked for and he knew that. 

“Tony, look I know what I did was awful. I just wasn’t thinking right and I haven’t been since Thanos. I’m not trying to make excuses but it’s true. Everything that’s happened has been too much too fast and I really messed up. I’m just really, _really_ fucking sorry.” Peter murmured and Tony looked up at him with a strange expression, as if just finally seeing him for the first time. 

With a sigh Tony scooted over in his bed with a grimace at the movement before patting the space beside him he had made. Peter titled his head in confusion but Tony rolled his eyes and patted the blankets impatiently. 

“Just come here kid.” 

Peter obliged and moved back over to the bed before climbing in beside Tony who put his arm around him and pulled him into a half hug. 

He’d been so alone for so long with no one to talk to besides Nick Fury on occasion which was hardly a comfort. So when Tony, the only father figure he had left, pulled him into the hug he wrapped his arms carefully around his mentor and leaned his head on his good shoulder. 

“I’m sorr-” 

“Just stop, okay. It’s fine. Well it’s actually not fine at all but it will be. I’m going to help you fix this and you’re going to let me.” Tony murmured and his voice was soft and gentle now. “You’re still just a kid, Pete. You shouldn’t have been in this alone.” 

“Thank you.” He whispered.

“Just understand that me being retired from the whole hero business doesn’t mean I can’t still help you. You’d be blown away by the tricks I can pull from my couch at home with a laptop and cellphone. We could have stopped this from the start if you just came to me.” 

“Trust me. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t keep you in the dark _ever_ again.” Peter promised because even though this had spiraled out of control it was too late to take it back. All they could do was move forward. 

“Good. Now I’m going to sleep now and you are too. You look dead on your feet kid.” Tony said while adjusting himself on the pillows and tossing one of the blankets over them both.

“You know I love you right?” Peter asked and part of him still felt exceptionally weird saying it to Tony Stark but it was the truth and he wanted him to know. 

“Yeah I know kid. I love you too. We’re gonna be fine.” Tony said softly and Peter closed his eyes too now. Sleep wasn’t something he did much of these days and it called to him. 

He was almost asleep when Tony added one more thing.

“I’m going to kill Nick Fury though. You know that right? His blood is on your hands so you better start coping with how to live with that.” 

Peter let out a booming laugh, the first genuine one he’d had in months. 

Sometime later, after Tony’s breathing deepened with sleep, and right before he drifted off himself, he rather thought that he better actually tip Nick off about that threat. 


End file.
